Prologue

900 years before extinction

In a forest, in a clearing, lay a baby boy. Unaware that the world would end in 900 years and unaware of the role he would play in its demise.

The only thing the boy knew was that he was hungry, cold and alone. The only way he could communicate these feelings was by screaming, and scream he did.

An old trapper heard the screaming and followed it to the clearing. By the time he carried the boy back to the village, every person had gathered to see.

The boy had a tattoo of three lines on his right arm. This was not strange. The tribe tattooed all newborn boys on their right arms, each with a unique motif.

What was strange was that no other people inhabited this world. Except for the Veatherites. Bloodthirsty cannibals, easily recognized by their black eyes, pointed ears, fangs and foul stench.

This boy had normal brown eyes, round ears, no fangs and smelled like all newborns smell.

So where had he come from? No woman had given birth and lost a child. The only rational explanation was that he had been sent to the tribe by the gods.

By which god and why? Surely, the reason would reveal itself in time.

They named him Ariik, meaning “first man”, and gave him to the woman who had just given birth to a boy named Zokro. She raised them as brothers.